Meghan Markle's Suits co-star Patrick J. Adams says he now 'lives in a world where he can't post things' about Prince Harry's girlfriend, after having to delete an 'innocent' Instagram snap of them that caused uproar online

Patrick J. Adams uploaded a photo of Meghan kissing him on the cheek on her birthday in August

He deleted it the next day, but not after an 'onslaught' of people shared it

He said it was completely innocent and they're like brother and sister, but that it became a huge story

In August, actor Patrick J. Adams uploaded a photo to Instagram of himself getting a peck on the cheek from his Suits co-star Meghan Markle — and just like that, it was gone.

Now, the 36-year-old actor has explained the craziness that followed his simple post, and why he felt completed to delete it almost immediately after.

'I posted this old photo I had found of Meghan and I on set. I went to bed, and woke up in the morning and realized, "Oh, yeah. I live in a world where you can't post things about Meghan,"' he told Esquire.com.

Now you see it... In August, Patrick J. Adams shared an old photo of himself with his Suits co-star Meghan Markle, in honor of her birthday — but promptly deleted it the next day

On TV: His image caption referenced the names of their characters, Mike Ross and Rachel Zane

Ramifications: In a new interview, he said that there was an 'onslaught of people retweeting the thing' and he realized he couldn't simply post photos of Meghan anymore

Patrick didn't indicate whether anyone actually told him to delete the photo, saying instead that it simply occurred to him that she isn't just another actress anymore — she's potentially future royalty.

The rather innocent photograph showed Patrick smiling open-mouthed at the camera, with Meghan in profile to his left, kissing him on the cheek.

He shared it on August 4 for Meghan's 36th birthday, captioning it: 'Ross and Rachel - the next generation' — referring to their characters, Mike Ross and Rachel Zane.

While it was undoubtedly innocent, the post inspired speculation that Meghan's married Suits co-star might be competition for Prince Harry. What's more, people were paying a lot more attention to the photo than they did to most things Patrick posted.

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Nothing to see here! Patrick says he and Meghan are like brother and sister and the picture was innocent

'I had this onslaught of people retweeting the thing, people thinking it was a recent picture, and I just thought, "What the hell is going on?"' he said.

'It was such an innocent moment of sentimentality that was twisted into something totally different. It made me feel like… why put myself through this?' he went on. 'We're like brother and sister, it's not like it was lurid or anything, but it just became a story that people wanted to talk about.'

Now, he feels like he needs to put a lot more thought into what he shares.

'I'm not good at it, I overthink every post that I put out and the ramifications and who'll be listening and how it'll be received,' he added.

Not worth it: He now thinks, when it comes to posting about Meghan, 'Why put myself through this?'

Sweet: In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Meghan said she and Harry are 'two people who are really happy and in love'

Patrick's not the only person in Meghan's life who has refrained from posting about her on social media.

Actress Abigail Spencer, Serena Williams and fashion designer Misha Nonoo — friends of Meghan's who were all interviewed for her recent Vanity Fair profile — have also kept their Instagram accounts clean of snaps of the Suits star.

As for Meghan, she had mostly kept mum about her relationship until the Vanity Fair interview.

'I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple. We're two people who are really happy and in love,' she said.